American Airlines Flight 293
Hijacking
N1995, the Boeing 727 involved
Date	June 20, 1979
Summary	Hijacking
Site	United States
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727 Boeing 707
Operator	American Airlines
Registration	N1995
Flight origin	LaGuardia Airport, New York City
1st stopover	O'Hare International Airport, Chicago
2nd stopover	John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City
Last stopover	Shannon Airport, Ireland
Destination	O'Hare International Airport, Chicago
Passengers	135 (1 hijacker)
Survivors	All

American Airlines Flight 293 was a regularly scheduled flight from New York City (LaGuardia Airport) to Chicago (O'Hare International Airport). On June 20, 1979, the aircraft serving the flight was hijacked by Nikola Kavaja, a Serbian nationalist and anti-communist. During the hijacking Kavaja demanded and received another airplane which he intended to crash into the headquarters of the Yugoslav Communist Party in Belgrade. He was persuaded to surrender during a stop in Ireland.

Background

Nikola Kavaja was one of six Serbs convicted of the May 1979 bombing of a Yugoslav consul’s home in Chicago.^[1] On June 20, 1979, Kavaja, already released on bail, took over the Boeing 727 shortly before it landed in Chicago from New York by threatening the pilots with a homemade bomb.^[1] He demanded the release of Stojilko Kajevich, a Serbian Orthodox priest and accomplice in the consul home bombing who remained in jail.^[1] After letting the passengers and most of the crew members go, Kavaja forced what was left of the crew to fly back to New York City, where he demanded and received a Boeing 707 to fly him initially to Johannesburg, South Africa, but later to Ireland after learning from his lawyer that Ireland did not have an extradition treaty with the United States. After arriving at Shannon Airport he planned to take control of the airplane and fly it to Belgrade where he would crash it into the headquarters of the Yugoslav Communist Party; however, after being persuaded by his lawyer, who was also on board, to not do so, he surrendered to the Irish authorities, who then turned him over to the Americans. Kavaja was sentenced to 67 years in an American prison, but served only 20 years.^[1]^[2] Kavaja died from a heart attack at his home in Belgrade in November 2008.^[3]

Kavaja later claimed in numerous interviews with Serbian newspapers that Osama bin Laden stole his idea of crashing airplanes into tall buildings in the September 11, 2001, attacks.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Weber, Bruce (November 12, 2008). "Nikola Kavaja, Anti-Tito Hijacker of Jet, Dies at 75". New York Times.
^ Hockenos, Paul (2003). Homeland Calling: Exile Patriotism and the Balkan Wars. Cornell University Press. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-0-8014-4158-5.
^ Dusan Stojanovic, [usatoday30.usatoday.com/.../2008-11-11-2484099446_x.htm "Serb who hijacked US plane in 1979 dies"], Associated Press, August 10, 2008.
^ "Serb who hijacked U.S. plane in 1979 dies". MSNBC. November 11, 2008.

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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1979

Jan 30

Varig Flight 967

Feb 12

Air Rhodesia Flight 827

Feb 17

Air New Zealand Flight 4374

Mar 14

Alia Flight 600

Mar 17

Aeroflot Flight 1691

Mar 26

1979 Interflug Ilyushin Il-18 crash

Mar 29

Quebecair Flight 255

Apr 4

TWA Flight 841

Apr 23

SAETA Flight 011

May 25

American Airlines Flight 191

May 30

Downeast Airlines Flight 46

Jun 17

Air New England Flight 248

Jun 20

American Airlines Flight 293

Jul 11

Garuda Fokker F28 crash

Jul 26

Lufthansa Cargo Flight 527

Jul 31

Dan-Air Flight 0034

Aug 11

Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision

Aug 29

Aeroflot Flight 5484

Sep 14

Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 12

Oct 7

Swissair Flight 316

Oct 31

Western Airlines Flight 2605

Nov 15

American Airlines Flight 444

Nov 26

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740

Nov 28

Air New Zealand Flight 901

Dec 18

Mosfellsheiði air crashes

Dec 23

Turkish Airlines Ankara crash

1978 ◄ ► 1980

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1970s
1970	Cornfield Bomber Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320 Trans International Airlines Flight 863 Wichita State University football team plane crash Southern Airways Flight 932 Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26
1971	B-52C Lake Michigan crash Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680 crash Hughes Airwest Flight 706 Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 Pan Am Flight 845 Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 (see D. B. Cooper)
1972	Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 American Airlines Flight 96 Prinair Flight 191 Lake Winnebago mid-air collision Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710 Delta Air Lines Flight 841 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident Southern Airways Flight 49 United Air Lines Flight 553 Chicago–O'Hare runway collision Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash
1973	DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet crash Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 Delta Air Lines Flight 723 TWA Flight 742 World Airways Flight 802 Texas International Airlines Flight 655 Pan Am Flight 160 National Airlines Flight 27 Iberia Flight 933
1974	Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317 Pan Am Flight 806 Delta Air Lines Flight 523 Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 TWA Flight 514 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231
1975	Golden West Airlines Flight 261 Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 Overseas National Airways Flight 032
1976	Alaska Airlines Flight 60 American Airlines Flight 625 Air Manila Flight 702 TWA Flight 355
1977	Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 Southern Airways Flight 242 Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 Encino helicopter crash Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash Air Indiana Flight 216 United Airlines Flight 2860 Vieques Air Link crash
1978	Continental Airlines Flight 603 United Airlines Flight 696 National Airlines Flight 193 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 Air Caribbean Flight 309 TWA Flight 541 United Airlines Flight 173
1979	TWA Flight 841 American Airlines Flight 191 Downeast Airlines Flight 46 Air New England Flight 248 American Airlines Flight 293 American Airlines Flight 444
This list is incomplete. ALM Flight 980 ditched in waters near St. Croix. Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 occurred in the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Ireland
1940s	TWA Flight 6963 (December 1946) Pan Am Flight 1-10 (April 1948)
1950s	KLM Flight 633 (September 1954) KLM Flight 607-E (August 1958*) Pan Am Clipper Panama (June 1959)
1960s	Alitalia Flight 618 (February 1960) President Airlines Douglas DC-6 (September 1961) Aer Lingus Flight 712 (March 1968)
1970s	British Army Gazelle downing (February 1978#) American Airlines Flight 293 (June 1979)
1980s	Air India Flight 182 (June 1985*) British Army Lynx shootdown (June 1988#)
1990s	British Army Gazelle shootdown (February 1990#) British Army Lynx shootdown (March 1994#) Irish Marine Emergency Service Rescue 111 (July 1999)
2010s	Manx2 Flight 7100 (February 2011) Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 (March 2017)
Accidents with the pound sign (#) occurred in Northern Ireland, which is a part of the United Kingdom, while others occurred in the Republic of Ireland. Accidents with asteriks (*) occurred in the ocean near Ireland